An American language teacher and popular TikTok star has been accused of having sex with a 16-year-old Bangkok girl.
Thanrachada, the girl’s 40-year-old mother, told police and the media her daughter was contacted five months ago online by a teacher who coerced her into a sexual relationship. He is identified in reports as “Luke,” a TikToker with a large following of over a million.
Media reports have shown blurred images that are clearly associated with Luke Rockwell, who taught English at the school the girl attended and goes by English_With_TeacherLuke on TikTok, where he has a following of about 1.3 million followers. His TikTok mostly consists of his English-language lessons.
Rockwell did not respond to messages sent to several of his social media accounts seeking comment. But a former colleague told Coconuts that Rockwell was previously forced to resign due to many instances of his inappropriate behavior.
“He would show us pictures of women he’d slept with that obviously were taken without consent. He would make inappropriate comments or jokes to female students,” said Mitch Metzger, Rockwell’s former supervisor at another school. “His social media started becoming inappropriate and he was warned multiple times that it reflected poorly on the company.”.
Metzger also said school staff were suspicious that Rockwell had been messaging students inappropriately but were unable to find any evidence to terminate him.
The mother told the authorities that her daughter met up with “Luke” for sex several times until the girl needed medical treatment related to sexual complications.
The mother said that her daughter might be suicidal. She said that she filed a report at Khlong Tan police station. According to Thanrachada, police were indifferent, telling them there was little they could do if the sex was consensual. Nevertheless, they said, they would be looking for Rockwell.
Coconuts reached out to the police station late Friday afternoon, but was unable to get an update.
According to Thanrachada, they began dating and met for sexual liaisons on multiple occasions. She told her mother that she had unprotected sex because she trusted him.
Rockwell’s videos have invited controversy. A hashtag circulated in 2021 called #CancelTeacherLuke due to videos deemed racist.
In some videos, Rockwell has framed racist talking points as educational. In one, he used racial slurs and quizzed his viewers on whether they were real terms.
This Trump Supporter really just did this as like a game with racial slurs….. it seems like most wypipo just really can’t get with the times🙄 #teacherluke #tiktokracism pic.twitter.com/gxEU5LRrV6
— Ian K. Grant (@BeingIanKyle) December 23, 2020
#teacherluke race baits for views. if your gonna educate on a word maybe explain why it’s bad rather than gaslighting black people and saying it twice. pic.twitter.com/tubh2sL1Nd
— Fionanicol_ (@fionanicol_) December 26, 2020
He has been previously accused online of preying on his students.
Since the allegations were made by Thanrachada, Rockwell’s social accounts have been made private.
